Military

The French Army in Italy was a failing army but was revitalized in 1796 by the arrival of Napoleon and his dynamic leadership style that allowed his soldiers to realize their potential. The soldiers were unpaid and underfed; they were clothed in rags and often had no shoes. The artillery park was not maintained properly and the cavalry had unsuitable mounts, if any. The soldiers in the army were suffering from malnutrition and illness to such a degree that out of a paper strength of 42,000 only 30,000 soldiers were considered battle ready.[1] The hospitals were overflowing and non-battle deaths numbered in the hundreds per month. … More after the Jump…

I was thinking about this the other day while watching The Pacific on DVD. The Pacific is a pretty good series although I found Band of Brothers to be better based on pure entertainment value. What made me think about elite units was a short piece in one of the episodes where they show a picture of what to me looked like some Marine Raiders. That got to me to thinking about Rangers, Green Berets, SAS/SBS, Commandos, UDT, Spetznaz, and other historical elites and whether they represented a good investment for the militaries that create them. My gut reaction is that in general they are not although there is a role for such … More after the Jump…

The first Battle of the Marne was fought from 5-12 September, 1914. It was the turning point of the opening campaign in what would be known as the Western Front during World War I. First Marne represented the death of German hopes for a repeat of 1870 and ensured that Germany would have to face every German planner’s nightmare for over a century, a two front war. The Schlieffen Plan was supposed to allow Germany to defeat her two great enemies, France and Russia, one after the other in sequence. The greatest flaw in the Schlieffen Plan was actually the plan itself. It was an attempt to move huge masses … More after the Jump…

The Allied invasion of Gallipoli and its subsequent failure represented perhaps the greatest lost opportunity of the First World War. There is every reason to expect that if the invasion of Turkey had been successful then much the same results would have accrued to the Allies then as were to accrue twenty-eight years later when the Allies successfully invaded Italy in the Second World War. The tangible results of the Allied invasion of Italy in 1943 was the capitulation of the government of Mussolini, and the diversion of up to sixteen German divisions in Italy that could have been more profitably used in France. Additionally, one of Germany’s most capable … More after the Jump…

The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and brinkmanship. Iraqi Military Makes Gains North of Baghdad in Conflict With ISIS: It will be interesting to see how the response to the ISIS offensive plays out both in Iraq and in the wider world. The INA is a broken reed and any gains they make will be fleeting. I fully expect a stalemate to ensue shortly wherein Iraq is effectively partitioned. We are saying the beginning of bloody fighting. Think of it as Sunni Triangle II. Ukraine Says Russia Has 38,000 Troops on Border Amid ‘Invasion’: The biggest news out of this story is not that … More after the Jump…

The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and brinkmanship. Ukraine battles militants, Russia demands cash for gas: The hijinks continue. I am very curious to see what happens in the Elections on 25 May. If the current regime is selected they gain instant credibility and legitimacy and I would expect them to double down on their efforts to crush the eastern separatists. Hard for NATO to defend Baltic states from Russia – Spiegel: This should not be news for anyone who has paid attention to the anemic state of the militaries of mos NATO countries. The question is will Russia even go after the Baltic states? … More after the Jump…

The Battle of Antietam is interesting for several reasons the most important of which for me is that it is the single bloodiest day in American military history. There have been bloodier battles in American wars but no single day matches the blood spilled on those Maryland fields that early day in 1862. The Union victory at Antietam, if you can call it a victory, also provided Abe Lincoln with the opportunity to promulgate the Emancipation Proclamation. An executive act that was totally unconstitutional but that he did anyway for domestic and foreign political reasons. Antietam was the final battle of Lee’s first invasion of the North and while it … More after the Jump…

The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and brinkmanship. Ukraine Falters in Drive to Curb Unrest in East: Perhaps the biggest mistake the Kiev government could make right now is to make threats they are unwilling or incapable of following through on. Nothing could damage their credibility and legitimacy more than doing so. It would seem they have done just that in regards to the protester seizure of government buildings in the eastern part of the country. Fragile Europe Weakens U.S. Push for Russia Sanctions: Who would have thought the current US admin could demonstrate more resolve than the EU right now? Of course, Obama must follow through or he shows himself … More after the Jump…

The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and brinkmanship. Crimea referendum: Voters ‘back Russia union’: Yep, That had to be a fair election. It’s not like the Russians don’t have armed troops all over the place there. I stand by my prediction that the US and EU will meekly submit to whatever Russia wants and go no farther than sanctions despite the Western Guarantee of Ukrainian sovereignty from the 90’s. Ukraine will probably continue to dominate the news this month as well. NATO general warns of further Russian aggression: So, what led NATO’s commander to just now acknowledge the danger that the Crimea will not be … More after the Jump…

The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and brinkmanship. Ukraine crisis: Police storm main Kiev ‘Maidan’ protest camp: The question on everyone’s mind: Is this the start of the Ukrainian Civil War? I would guess no but still put the likelihood of Ukraine descending into civil war around 50%. It would appear that the president is hoping he can wait the protesters out. A hope that appears misplaced since the coldest part of the winter is about over and warmer weather is on the horizon. The return of warm weather will actually bring out more protesters and if eh fails to dislodge the protesters now he … More after the Jump…

The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and brinkmanship. Suicide Bomb Instructor Accidentally Detonates, Kills 21 Students In Iraq: I just about fell out of my chair laughing when I read this story. I was reminded of the moron one afternoon in January 2005 who came out of a side road racing towards me and my wingman’s Bradley’s as we were driving into Ad Dawr, Iraq. As he got to about 300m from our two vehicles his car suddenly disintegrated. Stuff like this is why Arabs make horrible fighters. North Korea warns South and U.S. over “provocative” drills: I start to get the feeling that … More after the Jump…

The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and brinkmanship. China’s State Media Blame U.S. for Near Collision of Warships: I start to wonder how far and how fast China is willing to ratchet up tensions over the Senkaku’s? It seems that China is not unwilling to provoke an incident. What happens if they pull something like this in the future and the US retaliates by sinking a Chinese ship, maybe even their beloved waste of a carrier? Never mind that this whole incident is akin to Hitler blaming Poland for WWII. India-US row over arrest of diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York escalates: though this piece … More after the Jump…

The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and brinkmanship. Syrian Regime Chokes Off Food to Town That Was Gassed: What is the point of a siege if food is allowed through the siege lines? I will never understand modern bleeding hearts. They should be happy the government forces are not catapulting disease ridden corpses into the besieged area or trying to poison the water supply. Since when is war supposed to bloodless and not affect non-combatants? Update: Starving rebels eat lion from a Damascus zoo – Apparently the siege is doing what a siege is intended to do. I am not shocked. Further, the guys … More after the Jump…

The latest month’s wackiness in the world of international relations, politics, and brinkmanship. Syria: Al-Qaida group changes shape of civil war – It seems increasingly clear that the Syrian Civil War is starting to morph into a more regional conflict. I would expect that before next summer we will star to see more overt regional alignments and the conflict will start to spread. Give it another 18 months and we may very well start to see the fighting spread outside of Syria. I would expect that Lebanon would be the first foreign country to see significant fighting spread onto it’s territory although I can picture a scenario where Iraq is also … More after the Jump…

Today’s generation can be forgiven for seeing the Second World War’s common participants as engaging in a battle of ideologies. That being said, the Waffen SS were the ultimate outsiders who became the ultimate insiders. During the blitzkrieg into Poland the Wehrmacht saw them as little more than auxiliaries, along for the ride. It is therefore interesting to appreciate the fact that the majority of the Heer were not ideologues, and therefore why they were capable of constantly putting up amazing fronts against an opponent (Russia) that outnumbered them 13:1. The German military predated the rise of national socialism and shared few values with the Fuhrer and his henchmen. German … More after the Jump…

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